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AMERICAN POMOROGICAR SOCIETY 
each trying to pass laws; and you know with such a variety and so many 
different experiments, that if one of them is bad the land-credit instruments 
such as land mortgage bonds or farm securities from that state failing on 
the market would give a black eye to all similar operations or institutions 
by the effect from that organization — even if they were inaugurated under 
the best of auspices in other states. Also if you wait for forty-eight states 
to take action — some of these states are preeminently industrial or in very 
small degree agricultural, and I think it would be probably very long, as long 
as a quarter of a century at least, before they would take any action. Per- 
sonally, I would venture the suggestion that if only our usual institutions in 
matters of credit, the national banks, could fully provide for national mort- 
gage banks instead of short-time institutions, it would fill the bill. Such a 
bill if passed by Congress and in force throughout the United States would 
give a possible field for a farmer to borrow considerable money for one or 
five years, or maybe twenty-five or thirty years, and Federal authority 
would have the subject in their hands the same as with national banks that 
are generally in operation throughout the United States. The same prin- 
ciple is at the basis; but we would have of course some few differing features 
to handle in the business until it could be perfected. 
Your Chairman referred to our trip and to the fact that Mr. Wilson 
had a commission investigating this subject. As one of the members of 
that commission, it is not my place to try now to summarize more than 
very generally the results, contenting myself merely in advising that the 
commission did spend a few months in study all over the European countries 
to see how the farmers did it over there; and unlike most commissions 
(which generally like to take from three to ten years to look into the thing, 
largely because of the pleasant income which it affords during the time), 
this commission, while it paid the secretary out of the moneys contributed, 
moved as rapidly as consistent with satisfactory performance of the work, 
and is going to do just the opposite and report within the next month. ("Ap- 
plause.) It is impossible to interpret limitations under all conditions, and it 
is barely possible of course that if the commission had been a paid commis- 
sion we would have hung on for a year or two. It is possible that legislation 
may be enacted that will later provide if necessary for further investigation, 
also under proper supervision and with a satisfactory schedule for the 
services of the commissioners. 
National Commission's Investigations. 
Although we are particularly working on the question of long-time mort- 
gage credits, this commission made every effort to gain any information 
possible concerning short-time credits for farmers. We found this particular 
difference between this country and European countries. All over Europe 
they have personal credit institutions. They are not so very different in 
everything about them from our small state, private and national banks. 
Generally they are owned by the farmers, but left in the aggregate or with 
the vote of all rather than controlled by a small number of bankers; that is 
the main difference between the great mass of European banks and our 
small national and private banks. But they recognize a principle we never 
